A Full House for “The Tyranny of Good Intentions” Book Launch
On Wednesday, September 10, Perfect Books in Ottawa was packed to capacity for the launch of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. The author, Jack Stilborn, opened by expressing relief at the turnout, noting he had heard stories of novel launches attended by only one or two people and admitting that “every author has a paranoid streak” about whether anyone will show up.
The Story Behind the Story
The novel follows Andrew Walmer, a 38-year-old political science lecturer facing three interconnected challenges. First, he’s trapped on a condominium board dominated by President Sonia, who patrols the property in pantsuits rumoured to be from a military surplus provider, possibly Soviet in origin, looking for rule infractions. Andrew’s attempts to recruit reasonable people to the board become increasingly desperate.
His second challenge involves his separation from his wife, which he describes as entirely his fault. He’s left navigating the delicate hope that their relationship might be salvageable while co-parenting their 11-year-old child.
The third crisis unfolds in his classroom, where an ill-considered comparison about political floor-crossing lands him in trouble with university administration and puts his job in jeopardy.
The Swedish Fish Scene
The evening’s reading featured Andrew’s encounter with surströmming, the notoriously pungent Swedish delicacy. In the scene, Andrew finds himself at Mrs. Spencson’s kitchen table, facing a bowl of what he describes as rotting fish, wondering if he would eat it to get someone to join the condo board. Stilborn’s dramatic reading captured Andrew’s increasingly desperate attempts to consume the fermented fish while securing a board commitment, only to discover afterward that his sacrifice was in vain—Sonya had already filled the vacancy.
Politics in Miniature
The author explained that this is “a satire about politics” rather than “a political satire,” emphasizing that he’s not promoting any particular political view but examining the political process generally. He drew from his experience on multiple condo boards and his work on Parliament Hill, noting how he began seeing familiar patterns between small-scale and large-scale politics.
Acknowledgements and Thanks
Jack thanked several people, including his wife Linda, the National Capital Region Authors Association, particularly Sommerton-Smith who was in attendance, his sister Beverley, and publisher Alanna Rusnak of Chicken House Press. He also gave a humorous nod to “LF Products PTE somewhere in China where my office chair was made.”
The Q&A Session
During the question period, the Stilborn addressed Andrew’s reliability as a narrator, calling him “completely unreliable” but adding “he’s a charmer.” When asked about his research methods for the surströmming scene, he confirmed he’s “an empiricist” but noted that “empiricism has its limits,” explaining he relied on Google research rather than actually eating the fish.
Other questions touched on his writing process (characters often surprise him and make their own demands), whether he would befriend Andrew (he appreciates Andrew’s caring nature despite his flaws), and his future projects (currently working on short stories).
Looking Ahead
Jack mentioned he’s working on short stories, finding the more economical form initially challenging but increasingly rewarding. He also referenced an earlier epistolary novel about working life that received what he called “the shortest review I hope ever to get”: the single word “boring.”
He closed with encouragement for aspiring writers, describing writing as “a special way of examining your own experience” and noting how the process has changed how he reads other authors' work.
The Tyranny of Good Intentions is published by Chicken House Press.
Thanks to Perfect Books for hosting the event and to everyone who attended on a Wednesday night in Ottawa.
